Today, countless technologies are more common when various inventors suddenly come together to form a tight integration. Such as the iPhone or the unmanned vehicle is an example. Other inventions, such as four-axis drones and 3D Printers, these things were invented very early, only a few decades later suddenly turned into a core device and a global phenomenon.
Today's innovation may have been different, but the same is still alive. Here are 15 patents that have shaped the modern world.
1, magnetic levitation (maglev train)
Patent Name: 'Electromagnetic Induction Suspension and Stability System for Ground Vehicles'
The story of the maglev train began with the work of Eric Laithwaite and his full-scale linear induction motor. The inventor realized that a linear motor that does not require contact with the rails could be used to develop a magnetic field-based traffic system. Laithwaite tested the magnetic field available. A linear induction motor that achieves upward and forward thrust.
Laithwaite's work has been extensively studied. In 1967, James Powell and Gordon Danby of the Brookhaven National Laboratory got the first patent for a magnetic levitation train. Their design was to use superconducting magnets to generate 'levitation force'. The train floats on the ground, 'and gets thrust with 'propeller, air current or rocket'.
When the Laithwaite linear induction motor worked in conjunction with Powell and Danby's floating train design, the first commercial maglev train was born. In 1995, the United Kingdom opened a magnetic levitation shuttle, and the Germans later built and tested several prototypes. Finally made the Transrapid (maglev train). A Shanghai-developed maglev train is the fastest commercial train in operation, with a maximum operating speed of 270 mai (435 km/h), while Japan's L0 series magnetic levitation The train prototype set a speed record at a speed of 375 miles (603 kilometers per hour). In the future, the super high-speed rail system can use similar technology to allow the cabin to float and accelerate inside the vacuum bee tube, and its maximum speed may reach 750 mph. Mai (1207 km/h).
2, iPhone mobile phone
Patent Name: 'Electronic Equipment'
This 21st-century landmark device patent almost tells you everything about it. Overall, Apple's patent for an original iPhone just called it 'electronic device', just saying it was 'a decorative design of an electronic device.' , see illustration and description. 'The document then marks the eight digits of the 'electronic device'. It simply tells you which direction it is displayed from, and then cites related patents and documents.
Although the iPhone is not the first smartphone or the first mobile phone to connect to the Internet, its basic design has successfully transformed the appearance and functionality of many devices that people use every day. The iPhone is more like a handheld computer than a telephone. It and subsequent improvements to 'electronics' have affected human communication, browsing and even thinking.
3, motorized exoskeletons
Patent Name: 'Action assistive device and means'
The exoskeleton has a long history, dating back to the invention of the 'walking device' invented by Nicholas Yagin in 1890. The non-motorized exoskeleton uses compressed gas to store energy and help exercise.
In the 1960s, the US military launched a dynamic exoskeleton project called Hardiman, developed by General Electric. This large-scale mechanical suit is designed to amplify the strength of soldiers so as to lift 1,500 pounds of weight, but at full power. Bones are subject to violent uncontrolled movements and have never been tested in humans.
Technology continues to improve, and various companies invest in exoskeletons in order to help field workers with varying degrees of paralysis or assist workers. ReWalk, who holds a patent for a powered exoskeleton in 2014, has developed a method for rehabilitation. The center's exoskeletons allow patients with lower extremities to learn to sit, stand, walk or even climb stairs. MIT and the European Space Agency are also designing similar devices. Future construction workers, soldiers, and even astronauts may use it. Exoskeleton suit.
4, four-axis drone
Patent Name: 'Aerial Lift Unmanned Helicopter'
The four-axle drone that caused the aircraft to interfere with the aircraft hummed over the park today applied for a patent as early as 1962. Edward G. Vanderlip, engineer of Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, first designed the helicopter instrument to be power failure. The means to continue to work.
Vanderlip then came up with the idea of incorporating a pilot-friendly flying system into a remotely controlled propeller aircraft. His 'omnidirectional, helicopter-lifted drone' probably described a UAV that was flying 'extremely simple'. The drone The design has '4 pairs of lift rotors arranged at opposite ends' so the vertical axis of pitch is always perpendicular to the ground. This allows the aircraft to tilt the rotor to fly in any direction while maintaining a horizontal platform.
Waiting for flight control and electronic systems such as cameras and GPS navigation to follow up on Vanderlip's idea, four-axle drones can finally fly in a cluster of blue skies.
5, 3D printer
Patent name: 'Apparatus for making 3-dimensional objects by stereolithography'
This 3D printer patent issued in 1986 was ahead of its time. The document outlines the basic techniques used by most 3D printers: Stereolithography, or photocuring of resins. An active platform accepts input from the computer and then places the base on Below a nozzle, the liquid resin of the nozzle forms an object layer by layer and is then cured by ultraviolet light.
With the advancement of computing technology, the true value of 3D printing becomes apparent. With metal printing methods such as laser metal sintering, manufacturers are now printing ambitious buildings such as bridges and rocket motors.
6, Bionic eyeball
Patent name: 'Retinal prosthesis and method for manufacturing retinal prosthesis'
The first attempt to restore vision for the blind was in 1968, when two doctors, GS Brindley and WS Lewin, surgically implanted a device for a 52-year-old patient. The electronic device was not implanted in the patient's eyes. It's the optic nerve on his brain. By simulating the brain's neurons, the doctor lets the patient see the light in half of his field of vision.
Today, thanks to a much smaller number of electronic devices, vision recovery devices can already be implanted directly into the retina, as described in the 2013 patent. Cameras that are often mounted on sunglasses are used to capture data in surrounding areas. Then send a signal to the retina implant, which then stimulates the photoreceptors in the eye. Completely blind patients can use this technique to love to restore partial vision, including the ability to see the shape and light. As the electrode shrinks, it makes it more Special photoreceptors are stimulated, this technology will only get better and better.
7, Global Positioning System
Patent name: 'Navigation system using satellite and passive ranging technology'
GPS satellites were invented by the US Navy and are operated today by the US Air Force. Roger L. Easton is the mastermind behind the Global Positioning System. In the 1950s, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory developed on-orbit US satellites and subsequent Soviet satellites. Technology. In 1959, Easton developed the Navy Space Surveillance System - the first radar network to track all orbiting objects over the United States.
In the ensuing decades, Easton changed its technological direction and switched to tracking ground objects from space. The patent granted to him in 1974 described the method of navigation through satellites. The high precision of the launch of operations such as TIMATION I and II. The clock improved this technique and corrected the errors caused by special relativity. In 1977, Navigation Technology Satellite 2 sent the first GPS data.
This technology was limited to military use for several years. In the first Gulf War (sometimes called the 'First Space War'), the United States used GPS satellites to navigate the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq. 1995 GPS has enabled the full operation of 24 satellites. Today, Google Maps almost never loses satellite connectivity.
8, CRISPR gene editing
Patent name: 'The CRISPR-Cas system and method for altering gene product expression'
CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool developed by the University of California, Berkeley, used to modify single-celled organisms. This technology was subsequently improved by Harvard University and MIT's non-profit organization Broad Institute. The use of multicellular organisms is as outlined in this 2014 patent. Today, CRISPR is used to modify crops and livestock, as well as to treat human patients suffering from leukemia and other diseases.
CRISPR-Cas9 is divided into 3 parts: the RNA strand that locates the correct fragment of the organism's DNA, the Cas9 enzyme that cleaves this DNA fragment, and the alternative DNA strand that replaces the deleted fragment.
CRISPR can be injected into the embryo or introduced into the immune system cells and other cells and then injected into the patient. The possibility of genetic engineering has just begun to form, drugs and methods for the treatment of various diseases are slowly emerging.
9, brain implants
Patent name: '3-dimensional electrode device'
At the end of the 19th century, doctors realized that electrical stimulation of the brain would cause physical activity in humans and animals. In the 20th century, brain stimulation experiments successfully changed the patient's mood and behavior.
The Utah University 1993 patent sums up the so-called 'Utah Array' and described in a subsequent patent as 'Use a lot of metal needles to contact the brain to detect electrical signals or transmit signals to the brain.' Implantable integrated device. '
Since then, brain implants have evolved to the extent that it is possible to move mechanical prosthetic organs or to think about entering text on computers. In the future, technologies such as neural networks that cover a large number of neurons can be used to allow people to interact with computers through thought.
10, Graphene
Patent Name: 'Nanoscale Graphene Sheet'
We may be entering the era of graphene. This kind of two-dimensional composite material arranged by carbon molecules through the honeycomb structure is surprisingly light, but its strength was more than 200 times higher than similar thickness steel, and it has a strong heat resistance and Conductivity. These properties make graphene and similar carbon composites very suitable for computer chips, wings, and many other applications.
Graphene is made of large pieces of graphite. You can find this on the back of the pencil. However, it is extremely challenging to isolate a layer of carbon molecules that are only one atom thick. It was not until 2004 that the University of Manchester Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov used tapes, the so-called 'scotch tape' method, to extract a layer of graphene crystals with atomic thickness. 'Because of the breakthrough experiments of two-dimensional material graphene', this work won them in 2010. The Nobel Prize in Physics. Follow-up invented a new and innovative method of extracting materials. For example, in 2006, the patent was to use graphene exfoliation technology to create graphene.
11, Bluetooth
Patent Name: 'Point-to-point exchange of mobile communication equipment'
In 1994 Jaap Haartsen invented Bluetooth, enabling nearby electronic devices to use low-power, ultra-high-frequency radio waves to connect. Haartsen conceived several Bluetooth-related patents, but was later caught in legal proceedings and patent traps. This 2013 patent describes how this technology can be used to transmit GPS data.
The system uses a small computer chip embedded in the device to act as a mini-radio broadcast device and to run the software required for the interconnection. The device is 'paired' over a so-called piconet short-range network. This technique is used almost All current handheld devices include headphones, cameras, and intelligent thermostats.
12, unmanned vehicles
Patent Name: 'Vision System for Autonomous Vehicles'
The history of unmanned vehicles dates back almost 100 years. In 1925, Houdina Radio Control managed a drone-free 1926 Chandler by using the radio signal from the rear car. It successfully drove in the busy Manhattan area. After 70 years, Carnegie Mellon University's Navlab project 'No Hands Across America' crosses the United States 3,100 miles in a semi-automobile. The driver's motion is only controlled by the accelerator and the brakes. The direction is controlled automatically.
There are hundreds of patents related to unmanned vehicle technology, but the obstacle is the Italian machine vision company called VisLab. In July 2013, VisLab's car BRAiVE successfully completed a two-lane street in the center of Parma, Italy. , Pedestrian crossing, traffic lights, and other obstacles in the surrounding environment to achieve automatic driving. The company obtained the first patent for unmanned vehicle technology is the camera and sensor system to obtain the vehicle surrounding information, and then enter the command to the computer.
Today, many large-scale technology companies and car companies are developing unmanned vehicles, such as Google, Amazon and Tesla. Some predict that unmanned vehicles will replace the city’s traditional public transport system and conventional cars, change the urban transport, and make the latter become An interconnected car network that effectively eliminates traffic congestion.
13, solar panels
Patent Name: 'Using solar radiation energy device'
In the early 19th century, French physicist Edmund Bequerel discovered that certain materials can generate weak currents when exposed to light: this is the photoelectric effect. In 1839, he connected silver chloride in an acid solution to a platinum electrode. Create the first photocell.
About 50 years later, the first solar cell patent in the United States was awarded to Edward Weston. This patent describes a 'thermoelectric element' that has two 'dissimilar metal' bodies connected at one end and insulated at the rest. Under the exposure 'caused to generate electric current in a circuit'. Weston even predicted a set of energy storage systems in a very predictable way. 'The energy accumulated during lighting can be used in the evening or in cloudy weather'. Pointed out the major challenges facing today's large-scale solar energy.
The solar panel technology has been continuously improved for decades. Today, they are mainly made of silicon. In 1958, Vanguard 1 satellite became the first spacecraft to use solar panels, which promoted the popularity of this technology. The world's largest solar power plant is the Kamuthi Solar Power Project in India. The project occupies an area of approximately 3.9 square miles and has an installed capacity of nearly 650 megawatts.
14, (3G) The Third Generation Wireless Mobile Communication
Patent Name: 'Mobile Internet Access'
The first generation of wireless mobile communication technology made it possible to simulate wireless mobile phones. The second generation supported digital mobile phones. But it was 3G, or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), that changed what we carry with us every day.
Like the 2003 patent, 3G connects mobile phones to GPS and the Internet. It makes it possible to provide video calling and streaming services on handheld devices. After 4 years, 4G's improvement to the network continues to transform your Mobile phones, turn them into wallets, personal assistants and entertainment devices.
15, Virtual Reality
Patent Name: 'Virtual Reality Generator Showing Abstract Information'
The first VR head-mounted device envisaged was not intended to play video games or sports programs, but was used to help users analyze financial data. This patent description of the 'virtual reality generator' granted to inventor Paul Marshall in 2000 A computer-generated world in which users can navigate using 'control devices such as trackballs or space balls, electronic data gloves, head positioning trackers, keyboards, joysticks, or steering wheels'.
Paul Marshall later continued his research on these technologies in order to create a 'three-dimensional information map', but his goal is still to help 'finance managers or financial analysts' to screen the data. This technology has since been in the research field until In 2016 Oculus Rift launched their head-mounted device for entertainment purposes. HTC soon followed suit. Other virtual reality systems, such as Samsung VR and Google Cardboard, use smart phones to showcase the computer world. Microsoft HoloLens With augmented reality equipment, the future can help everyone from construction workers to scientists by adding data to the real world.